The U.S. Space Force has tapped SpaceX for a $81.6 million National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 task order to loft the Weather System Follow-on–Microwave 2 (WSF-M2) satellite and a rideshare stack of small DoD spacecraft (the BLAZE-2 mission) in the first half of fiscal 2027. The award—designated mission USSF-178—marks SpaceX’s third…
Read more
Space News Digest: June 2025 An In-Depth Analysis of the Latest Breakthroughs, Launches, and Discoveries in the Global Space Sector Table of Contents 1. Space Coast Launches: Breaking Records and Shaping the Future 2. Satellite Mega-Constellations: Starlink, Kuiper, and the New Race for Orbit 3. Japan’s H-2A Rocket Retires: A New Era with H3 4.…
Read more
Summary of Recent Developments (Mid-2025) SpaceX’s Starship vehicle lifting off on its ninth test flight from Starbase, Texas in May 2025. Starship is the company’s next-generation, fully-reusable rocket system under development. In summary, by mid-2025 SpaceX is breaking launch records, advancing Starship’s development amid regulatory hurdles, expanding its Starlink network, and securing a growing share…
Read more
A pre‑dawn launch from Kennedy Space Center on 25 June 2025 vaulted four astronauts from four nations into orbit aboard a brand‑new Dragon capsule they christened Grace. The two‑week private mission, arranged by Houston‑based Axiom Space and flown by SpaceX, is more than a spectacular rocket ride: it is a stress‑test of the business case for commercial research in…
Read more
1. Why today’s flight matters At 02:31 EDT (08:31 CEST) a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon christened Grace roared off pad 39A, carrying four astronauts on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)—and with them the dreams of three nations returning to human space-flight after more than four decades. Among the passengers is Dr Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, who just became…
Read more
Introduction: A New Era of Military Satcom is Here The U.S. Space Force has quietly teamed with SpaceX to create a secretive satellite Internet constellation for the military. Dubbed “MILNET,” this government-owned but SpaceX-operated network will comprise “480-plus” small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) breakingdefense.com. Announced in June 2025, the MILNET contract marks a…
Read more
Company History and Founding SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) was founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2002. Musk invested $100 million of his own money (from his PayPal sale) to start the company, driven by a vision of dramatically reducing space launch costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. The initial motivation came after Musk’s…
Read more
SpaceX’s Starlink has rapidly built a mega-constellation of satellites that is reshaping how the world accesses the internet. Since launching the first batch of 60 satellites in 2019, Starlink has put thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit to blanket the planet with broadband coverage blog.telegeography.com. By late 2024, nearly 7,000 Starlink satellites were in orbit…
Read more